This story about the EU 2020 plan was published by EurActiv on 7th June 2010.

Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the liberal group in the European Parliament, has warned that the EU assembly could block parts of the Union’s new ten-year economic strategy if EU countries were to continue to base it on cosy back-door deals. The Socialists have backed his calls.

The EU’s new ‘Europe 2020’ strategy for green growth and jobs is doomed to fail if it continues to be based on the intergovernmental approach used by its predecessor, the Lisbon Agenda, warned Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the liberal group in the European Parliament.

Speaking at a conference organised by the European Policy Centre think-tank on Thursday (3 June), Verhofstadt warned that the European Parliament could block parts of the Union’s new ten-year economic strategy if the intergovernmental approach was to prevail.

“The Parliament is working on a common statement of all political groups on this. And we are discussing the idea that if the Council simply copies the previous governance of the old strategy, we shall start to block a number of texts,” Verhofstadt said, answering a question from EurActiv.

The liberal leader strongly advocated for a “Community” approach to implementing the strategy, as well as for implementing EU policies in a broader context.

Although the EU assembly has no decision powers over the strategy as such, it could block its financing or some of its seven “flagship initiatives,” Parliament sources explained.

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